oracle vs. sql server

I'm an intermediate web programmer, and I've been charged with advising a group that wants a very scaleable database intensive web application. Although I get the sense that oracle is the industry standard, Microsoft claims that SQL 7 is a direct competitor.

Can someone give me some non-dogmatic reasons to go wtih one or the other? Of course, scalability issues include the platforms that these databases run on.

My preference at this point is to develop on SQL 7 because I like ASP/ADO tools that microsoft provides for web development. Ease of development, however, doesn't matter if the application will not be able to handle the load when it becomes a hit on the web. On the other hand, I've heard reports that Barnes and Noble uses SQL 7. This suggests that SQL 7 is capable. Any thoughts?

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Share what you know. Learn what you don't. Received on Sat Jul 17 1999 - 23:29:10 CDT